Hi Chip! I was wondering if you could shed some light as to why you urged Real Gone Music to reissue the Living Guitars/Living Strings The Joy Of Christmas/The Sound Of Christmas on CD this year.

Let me preface my above statement by positively proclaiming that, next to The Jack Jones Christmas Album, The Joy Of Christmas/The Sound Of Christmas might just be my favorite of the 2016 Real Gone Music Christmas album reissues!

Unlike the other albums in the bunch, I'd hardly heard mention of either The Joy Of Christmas or The Sound Of Christmas on any of the Christmas album fan sites that I frequent (Ernie (Not Bert), Falalalala.com, etc.). I know quite well that you have a huge list ranking the classic Christmas LPs you'd like to bring back to circulation on CD. I just find it surprising that these seemingly forgotten LPs rose to the top of that list - enough for you to bring them to Gordon Anderson's attention.

Was there a huge demand for either The Joy Of Christmas or The Sound Of Christmas? Were they that fondly remembered from the days of their original release? RCA Camden was a budget record label, correct? How amazing, and wonderful, that such seemingly obscure albums can get reissued on CD!

Can you please recount a bit of the backstory surrounding Real Gone Music's Living Guitars/Living Strings The Joy Of Christmas/The Sound Of Christmas reissue? Thanks again for all your hard work!

The main release of the 2-fer CD is the Living Strings LP, and I chose it simply because it not only resides in the 1st Tier of my Top 500, but in my Top 40, coming in at #33.

To package it with another album, there were only two "Living" Christmas albums still out-of-print -- and both reside in the 2nd Tier of my Top 500: The Living Trio's 1967 LP and the Living Guitars' 1969 LP.

Both are great albums, but I chose the Living Guitars album simply because the 2fer CD could be marketed as two consecutively released "Living" Christmas albums from 1969 and 1970.

As for the Living Trio album, I hope to get it released later as a standalone CD.

And yes, Camden was a budget label for RCA Records; but its original releases -- especially Ethel Gabriel's "Living" LPs, were 1st class productions and employed some of the best and most talented people (conductors, arrangers and musicians) in the entire record industry. And, of course, Ethel was a 1st class producer, and she is someone that I am proud to call my friend.

I just talked with her last month on her birthday and she is so happy that these Christmas albums are being re-released and gratified that her work is still being appreciated. My goal was to get the rest of her Christmas library back in print while she's still alive, and the only one left now is the Living Trio LP.

By the way, these
albums might seem obscure today to young folks like yourself, but they
were critically acclaimed, highly received and wildly popular in their
day. As for why they are not mentioned or talked about on other sites that you visit, I cannot say, but will only add that if that is the case, then they are stark omissions.